Andrew and Ann Tisch

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Loews Corporation

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Jewish Causes, Health, Environment, Policy

OVERVIEW: Andrew and Ann Tisch conduct their philanthropy through the Andrew and Ann Tisch Foundation. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation disbursed $5.73 million in grants in 2017. One interest is education, in which Ann often takes the lead. Other interests include the arts and Jewish causes. New York City is an important region of giving.

BACKGROUND: Andrew H. Tisch graduated with a B.S. from Cornell University in 1971 and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1977. He is co-chairman of the board and chairman of the Executive Committee of Loews Corporation, which was co-founded by his father Larry Tisch.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Once a reporter, Ann pivoted into education and established the Young Women's Leadership School, a public middle school for girls in East Harlem. She later launched Young Women's Leadership Network (YWLN), an organization that operates The Young Women's Leadership Schools (TYWLS), a network of all-girls public schools, and CollegeBound Initiative (CBI), a co-ed college access program. The success of TYWLS has inspired the opening of more than a dozen single-sex schools nationwide, including affiliates in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. Soon after TYWLS of East Harlem was opened, CBI was created to provide comprehensive college guidance programming. CBI now serves more than 18,000 low-income students at some 34 in-need public schools in New York City. 

The couple continues to support YWLN and TYWLS via their foundation. The Tisches have also directed funds to Ann's alma mater Washington University in St. Louis, where she is a trustee. They gave $20 million to create the Tisch Faculty Support program at Cornell University (where Tisch was once vice chair) in 2022. Other grantees have included Barnard College, Teach for All, City College Fund, Columbia University, Friends Seminary, and Weill Cornell Medical College.

ARTS & CULTURE: The Tisches support 92Y, home to the Tisch Center for the Arts. Tisch is also vice chair of NY Historical Society, which the couple helps fund. Other grantees have included City Parks Foundation, Drawing Center, Lincoln Center, The Met, and Utah Film Center.

JEWISH CAUSES: Andrew and Ann Tisch have sent a great deal of money to Jewish Communal Fund, which facilitates and promotes charitable giving to sectarian and non-sectarian organizations through donor advised funds." The couple gave more than $6 million to the fund in a recent year. Tisch is founding chairman of the Jewish Leadership Forum. Other grantees have included American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Tisch is a trustee), Brown-RISD Hillel Foundation, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and Jewish Women International.

HEALTH: Grantees have included Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Cancer Research Institute, and Stop Cleft International Alliance.

POLICY: Tisch is a trustee of The Brookings Institution. The couple have supported Council on Foreign Relations, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

OTHER: Tisch is on the board of Wildlife Conservation Society, the recent recipient of a gift of more than $1 million. The family also support NYC Police Foundation, where Tisch sits on the board.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the couple's strong giving to continue, tracking with established interests. Tisch also has a charity called the Andrew H. Tisch Family Foundation, though its current status is unclear.

CONTACT:

The Andrew and Ann Tisch Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:

Andrew and Ann Tisch Foundation Inc.
655 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10065
(212) 521-2930